Monday, December 29, 2008

Jessica was a good friend of mine back in Chicago in the mid '90s. She wasn't part of the fetish scene but was always happy to model for me. Someone let us have access to their farm for a shoot so I brought Jessica along. I remember one of the first ideas I had was to capture Jessica mid-air on a country road. I tried it one time but didn't feel confident that I got what I was looking for. When someone jumps in the air like that, it lasts for only a half second at most, and capturing that split second with my camera seemed impossible, especially using natural light. So I gave up and moved onto other shots. It wasn't until I got the proofsheet back that I realized that I had actually gotten what I had hoped for. And the truly amazing thing is how relaxed and natural Jessica looks floating in mid-air in that 1/1000th of a second that the camera exposed the film. It was a truly random moment that worked on a technical and aesthetic level.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

A portrait I did of cult film director Monte Hellman taken at his home in the Hollywood hills in 1998. George Hickenlooper, my childhood friend and ace film director, introduced us while he was making Monte Hellman: American Auteur, a short documentary on the director. Hellman's cult classic Two-Lane Blacktop (Criterion) remains one of my favorite films of all time.

Monday, December 1, 2008

[Subscribers to my mailing list had first opportunity to purchase these unique prints this past weekend. The sets are about 3/5 gone now. If you feel left out and would like to join my mailing list to receive exclusive offers and information, go to www.stevedietgoedde.com and enter your email towards the bottom of the front page.]

Now available:Steve Diet Goedde Little EditionsCompact 4x4-inch limited edition prints. Perfect as gifts or additions to your personal art collection. Limited to 30 prints each. Each print is signed and numbered on the back. Only $30 each. Price includes standard shipping to US addresses. Non-US destinations may have to pay slightly more depending on location.

Purchasing:Like my previous limited edition print sales, email me your interest at stevedg@gmail.com. Once I have payment, print(s) will be reserved and shipped to you. These editions are selling well so order soon. First come, first served.More information at www.stevedietgoedde.com/littleeditions.htm (WARNING: contains nudity)

Friday, October 31, 2008

There's a new documentary about my good friend and mentor Eric Kroll. This film has a fly-on-the-wall perspective from which we see how Eric creates his imagery both psychologically and artistically . It's interesting to view the interaction with him and his models and how he gets 'those moments', something I wish I had the gift of doing in my own photography. At first the viewer may be put-off by the amateur quality of the videography but it's quite effective and you forget about it once you get sucked into his creative mindspace. Definitely a must-see for anyone appreciative of erotic photography and how one artist captures his vision without any compromise.

Also, see life through Eric's eyes as he documents his life on his OFFICIAL BLOG.

"ERIC KROLL: A PHOTOGRAPHER'S LIFEA Documentary Feature Film by Elia KatzThis DVD features photo shoots and intellectual insight in to the mind of Eric, including many beautiful women in various stages of dress/undress and unusual/absurd situations. Elia Katz films this DVD in a very RAW way. The way that this DVD is filmed fits Eric to a T!!"

Monday, September 29, 2008

Are there any Wikipedia contributors/editors out there? I used to have an entry but it was deleted back in June. Several other colleagues had their profiles removed as well, namely Charles Gatewood and Christophe Mourthé among others.

The page for my entry is still there at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Diet_Goedde

I'm not sure what kind of copyright infringement was involved. I don't even understand that last sentence in the above quote. I had approved two of my images for use in the article and followed all their usage rules. That had been done a few years prior to the removal. So I have no idea what happened. So if anyone is interested in restoring my page, please let me know and I'll be happy to provide any biographical information.

Monday, September 15, 2008

In my quest to bring my photography back to its most basic form and avoiding as much modern digital technology as possible, I decided to start experimenting with a Holga camera. Film, simplistic camera, random composition and exposure. Of course I still have to use digital technology to scan the negs and then save the image via Photoshop™. No manipulation was used here. Even the toning was the result of the RGB scanning in automatic mode.

I had shot Aradia at Eric Kroll's house in Tucson over the summer, and this was my first chance to experiment with my new Holga. When we left, I accidentally left the camera (with the film in it) outside in the sun, and it wasn't rescued until Eric came back to the location about a month later. I thought for sure the film had been baked since the average temperature in Tucson during the summer is around 110 degrees! So I finally had the film processed to see if there was anything remotely salvageable. To my surprise, all the exposures were fine, and there were absolutely no light leaks which is odd since Holgas are known for that.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Back in 1997 I decided I had shot enough quality work to start pursuing publishers about doing a book. I had saved up some money and thought I'd spend a year or so submitting my work to various publishers. Edition Stemmle had always been my favorite photography publisher. Their books were always spectacularly designed and were printed on the most luxurious papers imaginable. Their catalog of artists included many of my favorites, such as Ralph Gibson, Irina Ionesco, Nobuyoshi Araki, Kristin Capp, Ferit Kuyas, Lewis Hine, Tony Ward, Andreas H. Bitesnich, Skrebneski, and Andy Warhol. So it was them that I approached first.

I don't remember what exactly I sent them but all I know is that a week later I got a fax from them saying that they were interested and wanted to see more work. So excitedly I sent them a huge box of prints. Within a few weeks, pre-production and design of the book started. Although based in Zurich, they arranged a meeting with me in New York at their US distributor's office. I remember laying all my images out on a huge conference table in a swanky room with floor-to-ceiling windows which looked out over the World Trade Center which was across the street. Because it was my first book, and I was star-struck by being with my favorite publisher, I pretty much let them have their way with the book. My biggest regret is allowing them to reproduce the book images from small 8x10 prints. That's why a lot of the images in the book are slightly fuzzy. Most people say they like that quality assuming it was part of my style. Only I know just how crisp those images actually are. I also let them come up with the title of the book which I really didn't care for and still don't. I really didn't want the word 'fetish' in the title because I thought it would pigeonhole me into that genre, which it ultimately did. But that's okay. The one big redeeming factor was that they were able to get Vicky Goldberg to write an intro to the book. For those of you who don't know her, she is the photography critic for the New York Times and is highly regarded for her essays and books about photography.

"The Beauty of Fetish" was released in September of 1998 in separate English and German versions. I still don't own a copy of the German version so if anyone out there can hook me up with one, please let me know! It sold very well and actually became one of Stemmle's best-selling books. It even made New York Daily News Ten Best Photography Books of 1998 list. Because of the success of the book, two years later Stemmle wanted to do a new book but this time focusing on the work I had just shot after having moved to Los Angeles from Chicago a few years previous. But more info about my second book later. Eventually Stemmle went bankrupt as a result of a domino effect when one of the world's largest book distributors went bankrupt as well and couldn't pay Stemmle all the money that was owed them. Of course that meant that us artists never got most of the royalties promised to us. In the end however, the prestige and validation of having been published by one of the most respected photography publishers was worth way more than money. Today I have a small amount of personal copies which I'll always hold onto and cherish. On eBay, copies of the first book go anywhere from $150-$500 of which I see no money. Oh well...

Monday, August 11, 2008

I actually consider this my very first fetish-oriented photograph. The year was 1983. I was always trying to get my then-girlfriend to wear strange tight shiny clothes cuz for some reason I liked it. Sometimes I succeeded so i was sure to take some pics. This shot was taken on the campus of St. Louis University.

The image was scanned from the original 35mm negative which I recently found. I had processed it myself in my dad's darkroom down in the basement.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Coma Diet was my old band in Chicago. That's where the 'diet' in my name came from. We were like the Beatles, except not as good and American. We were also like the Monkees in that we all lived together, except we lived in Chicagos's Wicker Park back when it was a total bad-ass neighborhood and rent was only $300 a month for a 5-bedroom apartment. We sounded like a cross between Roy Orbison and Einsturzende Neubauten. We made several tapes of our music, and they even got played on some indie radio stations around the country. We've been recently approached by some new labels about re-releasing some of them but that means I have to find the original tapes, which I believe are in an old Keds shoebox in some closet in my place. Coma Diet consisted of Michael Dalton, Steve "Diet" Goedde, Dave Selsley, and Chris Hanley. No reunion is planned as of this publication.

These photos were scanned from the original Walgreens-processed negatives.

Monday, June 9, 2008

This past weekend was the opening reception of the LA NUDE exhibition at A&I in Hollywood. Curator Don Weinstein has been curating the event every other year for the past 20 years. It was a great turn-out, and I got to show with several of my favorite photographers. Images from the show were beautifully compiled in an exhibition book in which all proceeds benefited the Aftermath Project. The participating artists lined up and signed hundreds of copies of the book for the attendees. There were also nude models available to have your photo taken with but unfortunately I was stuck behind the signing booth all night!

The show will remain up for the next few months and then will move to A&I's Santa Monica and North Hollywood locations.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Last week was the opening of the Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy exhibition at the Fashion Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The original Catwoman latex costume that Michelle Pfeiffer made famous in Batman Returns is part of the exhibit. Syren Latex made the costume back in the day and was asked to piece together the original costume for the show. The original costume had not been taken care of properly and had mostly disintegrated. So it was up to Jeff at Syren to assemble the original parts with new latex elements to make a proper costume for the exhibition. Jeff even brought on board my longtime friend Molly (formerly of So Hip It Hurts Latex) to help out on the hood portion of the costume. Since I work with Stockroom (who owns Syren), I had the chance to witness and document firsthand the restoration of this iconic piece of fetish fashion.

All the ripped parts of the costume were individually molded pieces of rubber which were then attached to the costume surface.

Detailed shot of one of the 'ripped' appliqués and a guide to show where each piece was to be attached.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

This is my first Mother's Day without my mom. Mom, thanks for all the wonderful years of support and letting me grow up to be the person I wanted to be. You will always be in my heart and soul. I love you.

Monday, April 28, 2008

I've been kinda neglecting the blog lately in favor of posting new pics on my Flickr account. Click on the photo above to see more. If you have a Flickr account, feel free to add me as a contact to keep up on new additions. Make sure you have your SafeSearch off so you can view mature content. Thanks!

Friday, January 18, 2008

For those of you who have the most recent iPhone and iPod Touch software updates, you can now add my website to your home screen complete with a nice icon. On your device, simply go to www.stevedietgoedde.com, bookmark it, and then select Add to Home Screen. That's all you gotta do!

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

This was taken backstage at the West Coast Fetish Ball after Kumi's performance with Midori in which she was covered in black ink and had hundreds of dead fish dumped on her. They were taken as fun snapshots but I liked the resulting quality so I 'artified' them and slapped them together as a little composite piece.

About Me

I'm an art photographer who is obsessed with my work. There's rarely a time where I'm NOT working on my photography. Sometimes I need to take breaks and force myself to go out and have some FUN! I have a weird and absurd sense of humor and love good art films and bad crappy films. I live in the Highland Park area of Los Angeles which I like much more than Hollywood where I used to live. It's more ethnically and culturally diverse and more REAL.